Lancelot VI by Edwin Arlington Robinson

Name: Lancelot VI
Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson

In “Lancelot VI,” Arthur’s exhausted forces besiege Lancelot at Joyous Gard, driven by Gawaine’s implacable hatred and demand for revenge. The continuing war has scattered death and desolation across the realm, while Arthur suffers inwardly and his army fights without hope. From a casement, Lancelot and his kinsman Bors watch Arthur’s men bury their dead. Bors condemns the senseless slaughter and urges Lancelot to end it directly by killing Arthur and Gawaine, arguing that the mysterious Light once seen by Lancelot cannot justify war for a dying realm. Guinevere comes to Lancelot through the mist and presses him more fiercely. Having narrowly escaped burning at the faggots, she sees no deliverance except a decisive end to Arthur and Gawaine. She accuses Lancelot of prolonging slaughter while refusing to explain why the war continues, and she questions whether Gawaine’s hatred or Arthur’s claims matter more to him than she does. Lancelot answers that he cannot casually kill Gawaine because he himself slew Gaheris and Gareth without knowing whom he struck. Gareth had loved him deeply, and Gawaine’s grief and anger therefore have claims upon him. He also remembers Arthur’s former love: Arthur made him a knight and counted him among his foremost men, while Lancelot repaid that trust by destroying Arthur’s honor. Though he still declares that he would pay hell’s price to save Guinevere, he asks her to leave the meaning of the Light to him. He believes that, if Arthur were to take or kill him, Arthur might afterward show Guinevere mercy. He sends her to rest as the moon and sky vanish in fog. The next day, heavy rain washes the battlefield clean and reveals that Arthur’s army has withdrawn. Lancelot recognizes three approaching riders as messengers of peace, and Lionel identifies one as the Bishop of Rochester. The Bishop brings a terse command from Rome requiring Lancelot to surrender Guinevere within seven days. Arthur will return to Camelot, and the Queen is promised mercy, with no renewal of her former punishment. Lancelot accepts the order. He tells Bors and Lionel only that Rome has intervened. To Guinevere, he announces that the game she imagined has been displaced by the Bishop’s move: she is free, the war will cease for a time, and she is going home to Camelot. She collapses at the word, and Lancelot catches and carries her away while rain continues around Joyous Gard.

By Edwin Arlington Robinson · First published 1920 · Genre: Arthurian literature, Narrative poetry, Tragic poetry · 3,696 words

First lines

THE DARK of Modred's hour not yet availing, / Gawaine it was who gave the King no peace; / Gawaine it was who goaded him and drove him

To Joyous Gard, where now for long his army, / Disheartened with unprofitable slaughter,

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Lancelot VI is listed on Textopian as a poem by Edwin Arlington Robinson, dated 1920 CE.

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Work type: Poem
Author: Edwin Arlington Robinson
Date: 1920 CE
Language: English
Genres: Arthurian literature, Narrative poetry, Tragic poetry, Dramatic poetry, Legendary fiction
Length: 3,696 words
Structure: 1 section, 256 paragraphs
Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)

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Genres

Arthurian literature — The poem centers on Lancelot, Guinevere, Arthur, Gawaine, Camelot, Joyous Gard, and the collapse of Arthur's realm, directly drawing on the Matter of Britain.
Narrative poetry — It advances a sustained story through verse, depicting the siege at Joyous Gard, moral debate, Roman intervention, and Guinevere's return to Camelot.
Tragic poetry — Its dominant action and tone concern irreversible betrayal, grief, guilt, fratricidal violence, political decline, and the suffering produced by war.
Dramatic poetry — The work relies heavily on extended, psychologically charged dialogue between Lancelot, Bors, Guinevere, Lionel, and the Bishop, with conflict unfolding through speech.